A Cold Turnip and Mud

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A New Day eDevotional

A Cold Turnip and Mud

James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

Frederick Buechner, in his book The Sacred Journey (HarperOne, 1991), said that one winter he sat in wet army fatigues somewhere near Anniston, Alabama, eating his supper out of a mess kit. The infantry battalion to which he had been assigned was on bivouac. “There was a cold drizzle of rain, and everything was mud. The sun had gone down,” Beuchner said. “I was still hungry when I finished and noticed that a man nearby had left something that he was not going to eat. It was a turnip. When I asked him if I could have it, he tossed it over to me. I missed the catch, and the turnip fell to the ground, but I wanted it so badly that I picked it up and started eating it, mud and all. Time deepened and slowed down. With a lurch of the heart, I saw suddenly that not only was the turnip good, but the mud was good too, even the drizzle and cold were good, even the Army that I had dreaded for months was good. Sitting there in the Alabama winter with my mouth full of cold turnip and mud, I could see at least for a moment how if you ever took truly to heart the ultimate goodness and joy of things, even at their bleakest, the need to praise someone or something for it would be so great that you might even have to go out and speak of it to the birds of the air.” A cold turnip and mud. Not much to praise God for? Or are they? To Buechner, his menu that evening might as well have been prime rib. It was not what had been on his plate (or in the mud, for that matter), but what was in his heart—a heart of thanksgiving and praise to the One who had graciously provided for him.

Take inventory, my friend, of all you have been blessed with. There are so many far less fortunate than we. It is imperative, therefore, to always maintain a mind set of thanksgiving for all gifts that God has given. May that giving of thanks begin now, with the gratitude we should express, for this and each new day.